Dinesh D'Souza and Christopher Hitchens go at it again at the 2008 Freedom Fest as the "Main Event".

FreedomFest is an annual festival where "free minds meet" to celebrate "great books, great ideas, and great thinkers" in an open-minded society. It is independent, non-partisan, and not affiliated with any organization or think tank.

Founded and produced by Mark Skousen, since 2002, FreedomFest invites the "best and the brightest" from around the world to talk, strategize, socialize, and celebrate liberty. FreedomFest is open to all and is purely egalitarian, where speakers, attendees, and exhibitors are treated as equals.

Christopher Hitchens (born 1949) is an author, journalist and literary critic. Currently living in Washington, D.C., he has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Slate, Free Inquiry, and a variety of other media outlets. Hitchens is also a political observer, whose books — the latest being "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" — have made him a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits.

In 2009 Hitchens was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the "25 most influential liberals in U.S. media." The same article noted, though, that he would "likely be aghast to find himself on this list" and that he "styles himself a radical", not a liberal.http://www.hitchensweb.com/

Dinesh D'Souza and Christopher Hitchens go at it again at the 2008 Freedom Fest as the "Main Event". FreedomFest is an annual festival where "free minds meet" to celebrate "great books, great ideas, and great thinkers" in an open-minded society. It is independent, non-partisan, and not affiliated with any organization or think tank. Founded and produced by Mark Skousen, since 2002, FreedomFest invites the "best and the brightest" from around the world to talk, strategize, socialize, and celebrate liberty. FreedomFest is open to all and is purely egalitarian, where speakers, attendees, and exhibitors are treated as equals.http://www.freedomfest.com/Christopher Hitchens (born 1949) is an author, journalist and literary critic. Currently living in Washington, D.C., he has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Slate, Free Inquiry, and a variety of other media outlets. Hitchens is also a political observer, whose books — the latest being "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" — have made him a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits.In 2009 Hitchens was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the "25 most influential liberals in U.S. media." The same article noted, though, that he would "likely be aghast to find himself on this list" and that he "styles himself a radical", not a liberal.http://www.hitchensweb.com/

Hans Rosling had a question: Do some religions have a higher birth rate than others -- and how does this affect global population growth? Speaking at the TEDxSummit in Doha, Qatar, he graphs data over time and across religions. With his trademark humor and sharp insight, Hans reaches a surprising conclusion on world fertility rates.

With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling uses an amazing new presentation tool, Gapminder, to present data that debunks several myths about world development. Rosling is professor of international health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, and founder of Gapminder, a nonprofit that brings vital global data to life. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA.)

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at

What's all this nonsense about sending the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece? If Lord Elgin hadn't rescued them from the Parthenon in Athens and presented them to the British Museum almost 200 years ago, these exquisite sculptures -- the finest embodiment of the classical ideal of beauty and harmony -- would have been lost to the ravages of pollution and time. So we have every right to keep them: indeed, returning them would set a dangerous precedent, setting off a clamour for every Egyptian mummy and Grecian urn to be wrenched from the world's museums and sent back to its country of origin. It is great institutions like the British Museum that have established such artefacts as items of world significance: more people see the Marbles in the BM than visit Athens every year. Why send them back to relative obscurity?

But aren't such arguments a little too imperialistic? All this talk of visitor numbers and dangerous precedents -- doesn't it just sound like an excuse for Britain to hold on to dubiously acquired treasures that were removed without the consent of the Greek people to whom they culturally and historically belong? That's what Lord Byron thought, and now Stephen Fry is taking up the cause. We should return the Marbles as a gesture of solidarity with Greece in its financial distress, says Fry, and as a mark of respect for the cradle of democracy and the birthplace of rational thought.

2012-09-13

Doing It Ourselves aims to broaden understanding of the debt crisis and peak resources andencourage action for the sake of personal preparedness, happiness and ethical living. This animation sums up the key challenges facing our global society of credit crisis and resource scarcity and describes a path we can take to a happier life, now and in the future! Find out more at http://www.doingitourselves.org

The original poster JediJesseS writes:"Christopher Hitchens at his finest - some of my favorite moments by the writer who has inspired the ideals of skepticism, free inquiry, and rational thought in so many. I believe Hitchslap is now the proper term for the unflinching intellectual prowess displayed in these exchanges."/Here dies Hitchens (dec 2011) A small gap and the poster gets a little sobby...oki doki...small crush.../"HrkrMr. Hitchens, your contributions to the struggle for liberty, equality, rationality, and freedom will never be forgotten. Your forcefulness, wit, and intelligence gave me the strength and courage to argue for these ideals in my own life. That you have done the same for so many is your great and immortal contribution to mankind. These seemingly small victories are what change the world; one action, one mind at a time, until the tide cannot be held back any longer. Your actions and words have moved us ever closer to that point."

The original poster JediJesseS writes:"Christopher Hitchens at his finest - some of my favorite moments by the writer who has inspired the ideals of skepticism, free inquiry, and rational thought in so many. I believe Hitchslap is now the proper term for the unflinching intellectual prowess displayed in these exchanges."/Here dies Hitchens (dec 2011) A small gap and the poster gets a little sobby...oki doki...small crush.../"HrkrMr. Hitchens, your contributions to the struggle for liberty, equality, rationality, and freedom will never be forgotten. Your forcefulness, wit, and intelligence gave me the strength and courage to argue for these ideals in my own life. That you have done the same for so many is your great and immortal contribution to mankind. These seemingly small victories are what change the world; one action, one mind at a time, until the tide cannot be held back any longer. Your actions and words have moved us ever closer to that point."

I.n this historic event, Stephen Fry and other friends of Christopher Hitchens came together to celebrate the life and work of this great writer, iconoclast and debater. Fry was joined on stage at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall by Richard Dawkins and the two discussed Hitch's unflinching commitment to the truth. Hollywood actor Sean Penn was beamed in from LA by Google+ and, between cigarette puffs, read from Hitch's acclaimed work, The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Five friends of Hitch spoke via satellite in New York: satirist Christopher Buckley and editor Lewis Lapham mused on Hitch's prowess as a journalist. 'Like a pot of gold', said Lapham. Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie and James Fenton delighted the audience with stories of Hitchens as a young man. Rushdie drew roars of laughter when he recounted a word game invented by Amis and Hitchens where the word 'love' is replaced with 'hysterical sex'. Particular favourites included Hysterical Sex in the Time of Cholera and Hysterical Sex Is All You Need.Watching the event with Hitch at his bedside in Texas, Hitch's wife Carol and novelist Ian McEwan provided an email commentary. 'His Rolls Royce mind is still purring beautifully', typed McEwan.

The event was watched live by 2500 at the venue, and by thousands more in UK cinemas and online

Artist and TED Fellow Aparna Rao re-imagines the familiar in surprising, often humorous ways. With her collaborator Soren Pors, Rao creates high-tech art installations -- a typewriter that sends emails, a camera that tracks you through the room only to make you invisible on screen -- that put a playful spin on ordinary objects and interactions.

A part of the Bangalore-based artist duo Pors & Rao, Aparna Rao works with electro-mechanical systems and interactive installations.

Time lapse sequences of photographs taken by the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude of around 350 km. All credit goes to them.HD, refurbished, smoothed, retimed, denoised, deflickered, cut, etc.All in all I tried to keep the looks of the material as original as possible,avoided adjusting the colors and the like, since in my opinion the originalfootage itself already has an almost surreal and aestethical visual nature.Music: Jan Jelinek | Do Dekor, faitiche back2001 w+p by Jan Jelinek, published by scape Publishing / Universal janjelinek.com | faitiche.deImage Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Eartheol.jsc.nasa.govEditing: Michael König | koenigm.comShooting locations in order of appearance:1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia4. Aurora Australis south of Australia5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean7. Halfway around the World8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam14. Views of the Mideast at Night15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

Poet Rives does 8 minutes of lyrical origami, folding history into a series of coincidences surrounding that most surreal of hours, 4 o'clock in the morning.Performance artist and storyteller Rives has been called "the first 2.0 poet," using images, video and technology to bring his words to life.

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, "ghostbusters" running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. In his talk, he shows how his group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together.

How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug? In this wise and soulful talk, peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need -- as nations and individuals -- to fight extreme force without using force in return. To answer the question of why and how non-violence works, she evokes historical heroes -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela -- and the personal philosophies that powered their peaceful protests